How To Bundle Home and Auto Insurance
When you bundle your insurance, you just buy your car insurance and home insurance from the same company. Bundling your insurance policies can give you some benefits, the biggest of which is that you might be able to save money on your total insurance costs.
It can also make it easier to pay bills and keep track of things. But bundling doesn’t always save money, and you might not want to do it. We’ll describe why, as well as how bundling works, what its pros and cons are, and what could go wrong.
Bundling is the practise of getting more than one insurance cover from the same company. It can save customers money compared to getting insurance from different companies for their home, car, and other things. Insurance companies promote bundling as a way to save money on your overall bill. This is also known as a multipolicy discount or a multiple line discount. Most insurance companies say that if you buy two or more policies from them together, you can save between 10% and 25% compared to what you would pay for each coverage on its own.
Bundling is a way for insurance companies to make more money from the same customer. Research has also shown that people who buy more than one policy from the same company tend to stay with that company for a longer time.
If you are getting your first home, you should think about bundling even more. It’s also a great time to look at all your insurance needs and get quotes from several companies, especially if you haven’t looked at your car policy or other coverage in a year or more. It’s important to make sure your insurance keeps up with the changes in your life.
Start by asking your current insurance company if you can get a better rate if you add a homeowners policy. Just make sure you get competitive quotes from other companies first. You might end up moving to a company with lower overall rates, or you might be able to use a lower quote to negotiate with your current insurance company.
Think about all of your insurance needs and any changes or updates you want to make to all of your plans while you are getting quotes. The more types of insurance you bundle, the more money you might be able to save. There’s a chance that not all insurers will give you all the benefits you need, so look for companies that do.
Bundling insurance also has other benefits, like letting you keep track of and make changes to all of your plans through one company’s website or app. It can also make it easier to pay your bills.
You may have to do some research to find a company that will give you the best discount. Rates will vary based on the types of coverage you need, your location, your credit score, the number of claims you have made in the past, and other factors. Because everyone’s situation is different, it’s a good idea to do your own study online. Even if a friend or family member gets a good rate from one company, that doesn’t mean you will too.
Does it save money to bundle insurance?
If you bundle your home insurance with another coverage, like your car, boat, RV, or life insurance, you may save money. Your savings will rely on where you live, how many policies you bundle together, your credit score, how often you file claims, and other things.
Every homeowner’s insurance business we looked at offered some kind of discount if you bought two or more policies from them at the same time. The discounts ranged from 5% to 25%. When you bundle your home and car insurance with Allstate, for example, you can save up to 25%. Amica says that you can save up to 20% when you bundle homeowners insurance with car insurance and up to 30% when you bundle home insurance with auto, condo, life, or umbrella insurance.
Other companies, like USAA, say that combining your home and car insurance can save you an average of 10% on both.
But every insurance company has rules about unique discounts, and not every insurance company offers every type of coverage in every state. Quotes from different companies are the only way to find out how much you might save.
When you buy more than one type of insurance policy from the same company, some of them will lower your fees or combine them into one. If a hurricane damages both your home and boat, for example, some insurance companies may only charge you the deductible for your house and not charge you for your boat.
Keep in mind that the deals you see on websites are the most you could save. Your savings will probably be less. Depending on your claim history, area, type of coverage, and amount of coverage, you may not save anything at all.
Is it worth it to bundle home insurance?
If you bundle your homeowners insurance with insurance for your car, boat, or something else, you could save hundreds of dollars a year compared to getting each policy separately. In our study, most insurance companies said that customers who bought more than one type of coverage could save between 10% and 25%. If you have more than one car or combine insurance plans for your RV, boat, or life, you could save even more. The more policies you put together, the more money you could save.
Another benefit of bundling is that going with one company can make it easier to pay bills and keep track of information. This is because you only have to deal with one insurer and one agent. You could save even more if a storm or other event damages both your home and your boat, which are protected by different policies. In this case, some companies might only charge you one fee, which would let you get more of your money back.
But bundling insurance doesn’t mean you’ll save money every time. The only way to know if your insurance costs will go down is to get quotes from several different companies. There are many things that affect your rates, such as where you live, how often you file claims, how good your credit is, and more. Not everyone who bundles their insurance will save money.
Amy Bach of the consumer advocacy group United Policyholders says that insurance companies that only sell auto insurance may have lower rates than companies that sell many different types of plans. Bach says that a company that only sells car insurance may offer perks that you can’t get from a bundle from another insurer, such as not paying for tickets or getting a discount for not making claims.
“Even if a company says it will give you a discount if you buy home and car insurance from them together, you might still be able to get cheaper car insurance if you don’t bundle,” says Bach. “But you’ll have to do a little shopping around.”
